Summer library program entertains, educates youths

Saturday

Aug 17, 2013 at 3:00 AM

During the summer, students take a break from school and maybe a vacation with their families. Many area children and teens also headed to the public library for a fun way to keep their reading skills sharp during the down time.

By Rebecca Perez Times-News correspondent

During the summer, students take a break from school and maybe a vacation with their families. Many area children and teens also headed to the public library for a fun way to keep their reading skills sharp during the down time. From June 17 through July 26, many local children participated in the Henderson County Public Library's annual summer reading program. "Dig into Reading!" was this year's theme for the program, which is funded by the Friends of the Library. The summer program was open to youths of all ages, starting with newborns to fifth-graders. There was also a program for older children and teens grades in grades six through 12 called "Beneath the Surface," which related to the Dig into Reading! theme.To participate, children were required to pick up a reading record and complete 25 circles by the end of the program. Each circle represented 15 minutes of reading. When they completed the program, the children had read for a total of 375 minutes (a little more than six hours). They were rewarded with a free paperback book, stickers and a bookmark. Teens were required to read six books and complete a book log. They then earned a free paperback and were entered into a drawing to win a NOOK Simple Touch with a glowlight so that they could read via e-reader. The drawing also included two $25 gift certificates to Fountainhead Bookstore and two $25 gift certificates to Epic Theatres.More than 2,000 children registered for the summer reading program, and 957 completed it. Another 460 teens registered, and 131 completed the program. The program offered many fun activities to encourage youths to "dig" into reading. One event for children included a visit from Hendersonville police officer Jennifer Drake and police dogs, while another, called "Dig Into Rocks & Minerals," invited children to explore the gems inside the Mineral and Lapidary Museum. Kids also discovered "worm ranching" and learned about animals that live underground thanks to Henderson County 4-H.

The library conducted a total of 179 children's and teen programs, with a total attendance of 5,481 youths. "Our goal with this program is to encourage children and teens to continue reading over the summer. It keeps up their reading skills long after school has ended, and we try to do it in a fun way by offering these special events," said Loree Kelly, director of the summer program. "We had some good ones this summer; we've had puppet shows, magic shows and many regional and local performers such as the "Secret Garden" by Bright Star Children's Theatre from Asheville, and they're wonderful," Kelly explained. "We offer children a program that is interesting and exciting, but we also introduce them to good literature and expose them to the talent in Henderson County."The teen reading program offered many events that were "beneath the surface," including a gardening program; a filmmaking workshop in which teens learned about writing a script, acting and filming, then wrote their own called"Romance of the Wimpy Kid;" and were visited by mind reader and mentalist Erik Dobell, as well as a presentation by Kim Sonefelt called "Carolina Shadows," which cast light on spooky, bizarre North and South Carolina legends."(The program) is very important because it's our biggest one of the year," Kelly said. "It also gets children to look forward to visiting the library and using it as a resource on a regular basis, making the library an important part of their lives."